Video-game publisher Ubisoft acquired the rights to use author Tom Clancy’s name on a perpetual, royalty-free basis in video games, as well as in movies, books and merchandise associated with its Tom Clancy properties.
Ubisoft has produced games set in the “Tom Clancy universe” for a decade, many of which have become hit game franchises.
The acquisition means that the company will no longer have to pay Clancy royalty checks for the use of his name, although Newsweek estimated that the deal cost the company approximately $128 million .
"After 10 years of a highly successful collaboration that has seen the creation of blockbusters that set standards in the video-game industry, such as ‘Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell,’ ‘Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon’ and ‘Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six,’ today, acquiring the perpetual property rights of the Tom Clancy name for video games and related projects is a major event,” Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot said in a statement.
“The future of our industry lies in our capacity to create and develop brands that captivate consumers and that present myriad of opportunities for the full spectrum of entertainment, be it video games, books, movies or other media,” he added. “Capitalizing on the strong franchises that we’ve built over the past 10 years, we will take the Tom Clancy game brand to the next level of the global entertainment industry."
Clancy made a name for himself as an author of books such as The Hunt for Red October, Rainbow Six and Clear and Present Danger. A number of his books have been successfully adapted to video games and films, while new franchises, such as Splinter Cell, were created specifically for the video-game platform but later spun off into other mediums.
